Rock Island daily Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1886-1893, 1887-03-17
NAILED CAMPAIGN LIE
COMMISSIONER SPARKS MAKES A
COMPREHENSIVE DISCLAIMER

OF Writing Certain Alleged Letters Advo-
eating Hill, of New York, for President
and Himself for yfce-A Little Brush
with Durham-Ambiguity Gets in Some
More work-Randaii's District.
WASHINGTON Cry, March 17-Commis-
sioner Sparks, of the general land office,
makes sweeping denial of the published re
port that he has written letters to New York
politicians favoring the nomination of Gov
ernor Hill for the presidency and himself for
the vice presidency in 1888. The statement,
he says, is unqualifisdly false and made out
of whole cloth. He never wrote such let
ter, never saw Governor Hill, never re-
ceived letter from him and never wrote
one to the governor, and denies the whole
thing. Mr.. Sparks challenges tho produc-
ton of any such letters. He hopes Mr.. E. S.
Stokes, in whose hands the published state
ment placed them, will make them public,
and if any of them appear he will prove
them to be forgeries
Mr.. Sparks explanation of the disagree
ment between himself and Comptroller Dur
ham is as follows: The accounts of the "Ben-
son surveys" the auditing of which is in the
hands of the commissioner of the general
land Office, were disallowed by Mr. Sparks,
and were never sent to Comptroller Durham
The comptroller wrote to Mr.. Sparks to for
ward the accounts to him, that he might act
upon them. This Mr.. Sparks says he re-
fused to do, as he was not going to allow the
accounts and it was not his place to forward
any accounts, except such as he approved as
aud H. h. H..
cause the service under the contracts had
never been performed, Mr.. Durham, or his
deputy, he said, had tried to force him to
send the accounts to the comptroller's office,
and had taken the matter to Mr.. jerks, but
it had been decided that he Sparks could do
as he pleased about the matter. Comptroller
Durham corroborated thu by saying that
the only disagreement between him and the
commissioner was that he requested tbs COM
missioner to furnish thu Benson accounts, as
he thought he had right to them, but Mr..
Sparks refused to send them to him.
No Money for Experiment Stations.
WASHINGTON CITY, March 17-The act
ing secretary of the treasury recently re-
ceived letters from the president of Rutgers
college and officers OF other colleges involv-
ing the question as to whether congress in
the act entitled can act to establish agricul-
tural experimental stations in connection
with colleges, etc. made an appropriation
to carry it into effect The question was re-
ferred to the comptroller, and he has given
an opinion that an appropriation, if made at
all, is provided for in section 5 of the act,
which he gu otes and then says: This act, if
possible, must be construed so as! to make
the whole harmonious and ineligible. sug-
gest that if it was intended by the language
above quoted TO make an appropriation,
such appropriation is a permanent annual
appropriation, and the words to be specially
provided for by congress in the appropria-
tons from year to year ara superfiuous. 1t
is my opinion that congress only intended by
the expression the sum of SIS, 900 per an
mum is hereby appropriated to each state to
fix the amount that would be specially pro-
vided for by congress in appropriations from
year to year Hence conclude that section
s does not make an appropriation, but that
the amount must be specially provided for
by congress"
| Randall Will Get There just the Same. -
WASHINGTON CITY, March 1.-THE
scheme of the Pennsylvania legislative COM
mittee to redistrict Philadelphiaso as to place
Mr.. Randall in a Republican district was
discussed by congressman here Wednesday
whenever and wherever they met. Most all
of them think Mr.. Randall would be re-
elected in spite Of the gerrymandering, Ex-
Representative Curtin, of Pennsylvania,
doubts whether the legislature will ratify
the action of the committee, and says if it
does Randall will be renominated and re-
elected as usual when election time comes
around